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Originally posted by ABBAKiss
I took a look at my expenses and I can take a significant pay cut if necessary.
I am interested in pharmacuetical sales (maybe?). Does anyone know anything about this?
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I know a lot of people who do it or used to do it. Drug reps have a lot more restrictions on them these days than they did in the glory days when they pretty much partied docs to death. I don't know how much it's hurt them, though. I used to go to drug parties all the time, and they were fabulous.
I once spent a week at ICAC in Berlin totally on Abbott's dime, because a friend of mine was giving a presentation there. There were at least six of us there in my friend's party. I think those days are over, but damn that was great fun.
I have no idea how they're paid, but they all look pretty and are extremely well dressed and personable. They spend a lot of time walking through hospital and clinic corridors, introducing themselves to as many people as possible. They try as hard as possible to get to know the clinic staff, so they (used to) buy everyone lunch and give a little pep talk about whatever product they're pushing that week. They (used to) pay for parties for medical students and residents or sponsor journal clubs or the Internal Medicine Society get-togethers or anything else where they think the resident / medical student might remember their name later on down the line. I don't think anyone in my family has actually purchased a pen in years.
Remembering names, relationships and clinical speciality is really important, and you do sort of kind of have to know a little about the drug you're pushing. Most of that stuff is in the literature, though, and unless the rep is doing something like showing how a new device is being used in practice, then a medical background isn't essential. You might want to bone up on biochemistry a little, though. They generally have their area that they service, and their bread and butter is keeping their docs and office staff well supplied in sample packs. Again, thanks to various physician family members, I can't recall the last time I actually had to go to a pharmacy for antibiotics.
I haven't taken a look at it in awhile, but you might want to also bone up on the OIG's Compliance guidance for
pharma, and generally be aware of the anti-kickback statute and Stark.
Like I said, it's changed a lot in the last few years, mainly because the perks and gifts and freebies and tickets and dinners and all of the crap that pharma reps were throwing at docs was rather gross for so long. Used to be that all I had to do to get tickets to anything was call a doc who could call a drug rep. These days it's a lot harder.
